The 30 recipients of this year’s AIA Young Architects Award have been announced, along with five Associates Awards winners.
Both honors are meant to recognize the contributions of early-career architects to the profession. Tannia Chavez, Katie Hitt, Asa Santa Cruz, Heli Shah, and Leslie Tijerina are the recipients of the 2024 Associates Awards.
The jury for this year’s Young Architects Award included Alicia Belton, FAIA, Chair, Urban Design Perspectives; Derrick Choi, AIA, Gensler; Beau Frail, AIA, Fox Fox Studio/Activate Architecture; Allison Mendez, AIA, CannonDesign; Burt Pinnock, FAIA, Baskervill; and Jodi van der Wiel, FAIA, Moody Nolan.
The 2024 Young Architects Award recipients are as follows:
Further details about each recipient can be found here.
Hospice - Home for Terminally Ill #4
Register by Wed, Jan 15, 2025
Submit by Mon, Jun 16, 2025
Kinderspace: Architecture for Children's Development #2
Register by Thu, Jan 16, 2025
Submit by Mon, Jun 16, 2025
100,000 € Prize / Buildner's Unbuilt Award 2025
Register by Thu, Oct 30, 2025
Submit by Thu, Nov 20, 2025
The Architect's Chair / Edition #3
Register by Wed, Jan 15, 2025
Submit by Tue, Feb 18, 2025
2 Comments
A sincere congratulations to all awardees for their work and contributions to architecture.
Here is something.
Can AIA be, in their own words, more inclusive and also award some non-member architects in their award programs and recognitions?
The reality is that the membership fees can be high for someone who is a dedicated member of the profession but cannot necessarily pay the fees as they are not subsidized by the company they work for or just starting on their own. A large portion of that fee is the national part. Most members appreciate what the local chapters bring to the table for them and are inspired to be involved at that level.
AIA has succeeded in making the AIA title sound above the registered or licensed architect credentials. But, a potential legal challenge is also possible for creating such a caste system and monopoly. Or is it?
The "we are not a government mandate" has been used as a de facto defense for too long but in spirit that doesn't deal with the issues I mentioned above.
AIA works all day long to be above regular registered architects. For example, my local AIA chapter has inserted itself into the local government by ordinances that empower the chapter to award seats on several city design review boards. These seats are handed to favored members of the chapter in an opaque back room process. It is completely exclusionary to non-AIA member architects as well as members of AIA alternatives like Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) and Association of Licensed Architects (ALA).